We use cookies to ensure we give you the best experience on our website. You can find out about our cookies and how to disable cookies in our Privacy Policy. If you continue to use this website without disabling cookies, we will assume you are happy to receive them. Close.

The thing about construction and engineering is that some bits of it have stayed the same for millennia but other bits are changing at an incredibly fast speed. Construction is struggling to keep up with the digital age. Generation Z will have expectations about the links between the digital world and everything else – like being able to change the temperature of their house from their office.

The other issue, particularly given the parlous state of the housebuilding industry, is that we are still tied down by old skills, many of which are very valuable, but we need to get our head around off-site and the contribution this has made.

DBW:
If you had to advise building designers to focus on one of those future trends, which would it be?

It won't give Generation Z the kind of environment they expect - natural light, air conditioning which is not intrusive, clean air, and so on. And I expect the needs of the younger generations to drive the industry much more.

DBW:
Is there the concern that a short-term focus on buildingunits, and trying to meet demand, will mean less attention is paid to longer-term issues about ensuring they try and tackle those future trends?

JE:

What effect is Brexit going to have on this? What about pre-existing commitments and legislation up to 2050, or have we forgotten all about that already? The complexity of the landscape is such that you can't just take one issue alone.

'Smart' is a very misused term. Buildings aren't clever, it's the people that design, build and fit them out who are clever. The systems themselves are not particularly clever. Smart really means digital connectivity.

BSRIA is really interested in digital because of the ability, not quite to take out the human element, but to make customisation possible – especially with wearable technology, where you get people with very different needs in the same environment – how do you alter that environment to make it more customised? Being able to be individual in an environment has not been achieved yet, but it's quite an aspiration.

DBW:
Is there the concern that new technologies are developing at such a rapid pace that the built environment will be unable to keep up? Considering there are still basic things, such as closing the performance gap, that the industry struggles with.

One of the things we do at BSRIA, in our environmental chambers, is buildmock-ups for testing and we can see whether the air-conditioning, lighting, or whatever, works in practice. The only question is why doesn't everyone do that?

DBW:
Do you think the construction sector is well-poised to deal with Brexit? What concerns you the most? What would you like to see from the government moving forwards?

JE:

Construction tends to sometimes ignore politics at its peril. In any case, Brexit will dramatically influence the economy. For construction, back at the beginning of 2016, BSRIA surveyed our members around the subject.

The things they came up with as key concerns are things that have subsequently emerged as general concerns - skills shortage, the inability of free movement, issues to do with regulatory context, and anxiety about access to research funds.

The drive to try and persuade young people who are interested in construction to come along and have a go, is unrelenting, and yet we still don't get the numbers we need. It's a huge conundrum and no one has really resolved it.

The new technical universities coming along will help,because it's acknowledgement that not everyone wants an academic education or wants to sit behind a desk for a career. There's got to be a limbering up around the subject, that everyone can succeed in construction, that there's a huge variety of jobs and careers there, but they are so hidden. We need to take responsibility for enthusing, inspiring and reaching out to the potential workforce.

The lack of leadership does seem to appear as an issue in almost every report on the industry. But it is there, the demand is for collaboration. One of the main factors you raised was that under-35s tend to skim, rather than do deep research, there's a worrying change there.

The number of government ministers that have been responsible for construction is phenomenal. It has been said that the only time construction has really had a political profile was when it was seen to be a problem during the recession.

Now the economy has recovered somewhat, it's off the front pages again, except now we've got the Grenfell tragedy to consider. I think the inquiry, the review of Building Regulations, and any potential criminal cases, will all provide a huge suite of knowledge which we must all pay attention to. The industry must work together to ensure that such a tragedy never happens again.

DBW:
What more can be done to attract girls, and professional women, into the industry? Are you encouraged by the progress that being made to date?

JE:

There hasn't been much progress to be honest. In general construction there's been more progress than in engineering, which hasn't progressed really in 100 years. It is a huge challenge, partly because of the traditional stereotype of it being dirty and unpleasant. Sometimes it will be, but that's all about being on a building site. There's lots of other things people can do. It's a real issue as women are half the workforce, and the solution for the skills shortage would be to get as many women interested in construction as men.

DBW:
People are becoming much more cognisant of the issues surrounding buildings and occupantwellbeing, how is this changing the testing that BSRIA are being asked to undertake? And do you think the issues are being taken seriously enough at top level? Would you, for instance, like to see government legislate to ensure certain wellbeingstandards are achieved?

JE:

Legislation is a rather blunt instrument – but sometimes needed to drive change for a preferable situation. We are a voluntarist nation; culturally, additional legislation should always be the last resort, though construction isn't that good at doing things voluntarily.

We probably do more testing on indoor air quality now than we have done. One of the things around this is the work done largely in Scandinavia on indoor air quality and its impact on children in schools - the better it is the better they learn, put simply. Testing air quality isn't a costly thing to do, but it is if you have to respond to results and improve air quality where needed.